Feathered Christmas Topiaries

7 Materials
$60
15 Minutes
Easy
Okay, so do y’all remember the fall topiaries I made a month or so ago with tomato cages? Well, now that the seasons are changing, it’s time to put away the fall décor and revamp with winter wonderland elements. I decided to use the same structure of my fall topiaries, but put a spin on them for winter. Get ready for another quick and easy project!
SUPPLIES: -14 (6') feather boas -ornaments or other decorative accessories (I used Christmas picks from Michaels) *If you didn’t make the fall topiaries, here is a list of the supplies used to create the structure: -54" tomato cage (2) -12" planter pot (2) -bolt cutters -50" Christmas light strands (2) -rubberbands (2) *Note: If you are starting from scratch, you’ll first want to decide how tall you want your topiaries to be and snip your tomato cages with bolt cutters. Then, place each tomato cage on a pot/urn. For mine, I was able to push the cage down over the lip of each pot to secure my cages. After the cages were secure on the pots, I took a rubberband and tied the 4 individual pieces of metal together (this would be the end that usually goes in the ground but in our case will be the topiary top).
STEP 1: Wrap lights When I did my fall topiaries, I wrapped the garland around my cages first. This time, I decided to follow the advice of many Hometalk readers/commentators and wrap my lights first. I used one 50’ strand per cage, starting at the top with the female outlet and working my way down with the male outlet being on the bottom, so as to nicely plug into the wall without there being wires everywhere.




If you want extra security for the lights to stay put, simply use bread ties or zip ties to secure them to the tomato cage.
STEP 2: Wrap feather boas Next, I located the little thread loop at the end of one boa, secured it to the top of the cage and wrapped the boa around until I ran out — I used the other little thread loop at the other end of that same boa and secured it to one of the lights so it would stay put. I repeated this until I wrapped a total of 7 boas around one cage, then did the same steps for my other topiary.
I love how pretty these feather topiaries look by themselves all lit up! You could almost just stick a star on the top and call it a day! :)
STEP 3: Decorate! Finally, it was time to add my final touches — I placed a funky gold sequined topper on the top of my topiary, then added pink, lime green and turquoise glitter berry picks to the rest of my topiaries. Have fun with this step and show your personality! I was so tempted to just do black and white — something really chic — or keep it somewhat traditional with the colors but with red and lime green. However, I ultimately settled on these fun colors. I think they sort of look like fireworks!
It’s so amazing how a tomato cage can become something as elegant and classy as this feather boa topiary. I hope I see a bunch of renditions of this project in the comments! Happy Hometalking!
Ok here's one last shot of the topiaries all lit up with the lights off...now to keep Bo away from them! haha! *Note for safety: I did some research and saw nothing that stated it was unsafe to have boas wrapped around Christmas lights, however, I have kept my eye out and felt them from time-to-time when they've been on for a while. They do get warm so I would recommend turning them off if you're not going to be home just to be extra safe. *Note on price: The price of this project reflects only the boas and picks.
Suggested materials:
  • 14 (6') feather boas   (WalMart (online))
  • Christmas picks   (Michaels)
  • 54" tomato cage   (on hand (from HD))
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 7 questions
  • Deb White Deb White on Oct 31, 2018

    I want to use the tomato cages that I have instead of purchasing new ones. But I've run into a problem. I have oodles of different size flower pots and none are big enough to match up with the size of the round part of my tomato cage. I'm just wondering if I cut the round part off of the tomato cage and then put the wire down through the holes in the flower pots and bent them underneath so that they wouldn't pull out, if this would work? And I'm wondering, if I should just skip trying to match the cage up with the pot and discard the pot part and let the cage sit on the ground, securing it to the ground with stakes...that would work, right?

  • Catherine Catherine on Nov 25, 2018

    No where in the instructions does it say how the pots themselves are made secure. Sand? Rocks? Something else?

  • Kim8849506 Kim8849506 on Oct 04, 2021

    How do you keep the white feathers from catching fire. will they get hot from the lights ?

Comments
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  • Faye Faye on Oct 31, 2021

    They are so pretty but the things used for a topper are just not right. It distracts from the beautiful feather trees. Something closer to the top would be a lot better. Those curling things are just wrong to the eye. Just my opinion.

    Terrific job

  • Debbra Egeler Debbra Egeler on Dec 13, 2023

    Yes, I will definitely try this, AND I have the white feathers!

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